The Dome of the Rock is located at the visual center of a platform known as the Temple Mount.

It was constructed on the site of the Second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

In 637 CE, Jerusalem surrendered to the Rashidun Caliphate army during the Muslim conquest of Syria.

The Dome of the Rock was erected between 689 and 691 CE.

The names of the two engineers in charge of the project are given as Yazid Ibn Salam from Jerusalem and Raja Ibn Haywah from Baysan.

Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan who initiated construction of the Dome, hoped that it would "house the Muslims from cold and heat", and intended the building to serve as a shrine for pilgrims and not as a mosque for public worship.

مسجد قبة الصخرة‎

The Dome of the Rock

Architectural Drawing - Section

The structure is basically octagonal. It comprises a wooden dome, approximately 60 feet (20 m) in diameter, which is mounted on an elevateddrum consisting of a circle of 16 piers and columns.Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns

مسجد قبة الصخرة‎

The Dome of the Rock - Interior

al Quds القُدس (Jerusalem)

The interior of the dome is lavishly decorated with mosaic, faience and marble, much of which was added several centuries after its completion.

It also contains Qur'anic inscriptions.

Sura Ya-Seen is inscribed across the top of the tile work and was commissioned in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent.

Al-Isra is inscribed above this.

The formula 'la sharika lahu' - 'God has no companion' is repeated five times, the verses from Sura Maryam 19:35-37, which strongly reaffirm Jesus' prophethood to God, are quoted together with the prayer: Allahumma salli ala rasulika wa'abdika 'Isa bin Maryam - "In the name of the One God (Allah) Pray for your Prophet and Servant Jesus son of Mary".

According to Islamic tradition, the rock is the spot from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel.

Further, Muhammad was taken here by Gabriel to pray with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.

An important distinction is that this is to Islam what the Transfiguration of Jesus is to Christians, a fulfillment of scripture.

After Muhammad's return, he called all who would believe him to join with him and be Muslim.

It was at this juncture that Islam came into existence.

مسجد قبة الصخرة‎

The Dome of the Rock

al Quds القُدس (Jerusalem)

مسجد قبة الصخرة‎

The Dome of the Rock

al Quds القُدس (Jerusalem)

مسجد قبة الصخرة‎

The Dome of the Rock

al Quds القُدس (Jerusalem)

المسجد الاقصى

al-Masjid al-Aqsa

al Quds القُدس (Jerusalem)

المسجد الاقصى al-Masjid al-Aqsa, (Al-Aqsa Mosque) - "the Farthest Mosque,") also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The site which includes the mosque (along with the Dome of the Rock), also referred to as al-Haram ash-Sharif or "Noble Sanctuary," is the Temple Mount, - the place where the Jewish Temple is generally accepted to have stood.

Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey.

Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God directed him to turn towards the Ka'aba.

The al-Aqsa Mosque was originally a small prayer house built by the Rashidun caliph Umar, but was rebuilt and expanded by the Ummayad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 CE.

After an earthquake in 746, the mosque was completely destroyed and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 754, and again rebuilt by his successor al-Mahdi in 780.

Another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present-day.

During the periodic renovations undertaken, the various ruling dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, facade, its minbar, minarets and the interior structure. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the mosque as a palace and church, but its function as a mosque was restored after its recapture by Saladin.

More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken in the later centuries by the Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, the Supreme Muslim Council, and Jordan.

Today, the Old City is under Israeli control, but the mosque remains under the administration of the Palestinian-led Islamic waqf.
In Islam, the term "al-Aqsa Mosque" is not restricted to the mosque only, but to the entire Noble Sanctuary.
The mosque is known to be the second house of prayer constructed after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.
Post-Rashidun-era Islamic scholars traditionally identified the mosque as the site referred to in the sura (Qur'anic chapter) al-Isra "the Night Journey".
The specific passage reads "Praise be to Him who made His servant journey in the night from the sacred sanctuary to the remotest sanctuary."
Muslims identify the "sacred sanctuary" as the Masjid al-Haram and the "remotest sanctuary" as the al-Aqsa Mosque.
This specific verse in the Qur'an cemented the significant religious importance of al-Aqsa in Islam.
Initially, Rashidun and Umayyad-era scholars were in disagreement about the location of the "remotest sanctuary" with some arguing it was actually located near Mecca.
Eventually scholarly consensus determined that its location was indeed in Jerusalem.

According to Islamic tradition, during Muhammad's night journey (al-isra) he rode on al-Buraq who took him from Mecca to the site of al-Aqsa.

After he finished his prayers, the angel Jibril (Gabriel) took Muhammad to Heaven, where he met several other prophets and led them in prayer.